This is a stop-motion remake of a live action film a pre-Depp Burton made when he was a young staffer at Disney in the early 80s.

Deeming a black and white short about a reanimated dog corpse too scary for kids, his bosses promptly gave him his marching orders.

Coming from the same studio that murdered Bambi’s mum, that was some verdict.

Of course, Burton went on to launch a hugely successful Hollywood career with fantasy hits Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands.

Disney quickly set about putting things right by releasing Frankenweenie on VHS and teaming up with Burton for his animated feature The Nightmare Before Christmas. Now they’ve given Burton the opportunity to put his original story on the big screen.

Sadly, I think they might have been right the first time around because this new animated version still appears to have been made without any thought for an audience.

As the jokes are built almost entirely around references to old black and white horror movies, Burton doesn’t seem bothered about keeping kids on side. Adults who aren’t film buffs (or film critics) might also find their patience tested by the one-note comedy.

The story roughly follows the same contours of that earlier 30-minute film. Our hero is a shy, pasty schoolboy (voiced by Charlie Tahan) who just happens to be called Victor Frankenstein.

While avoiding the other kids at school, Victor is in the loft making amateur horror films starring his bull terrier Sparky.

When his little pet gets run over at a baseball game he’s devastated but when his teacher (Martin Landau) shows him the old trick with an electric current and a pair of frog’s legs, Victor hatches a plan.

With a couple of neck bolts, a needle and thread and a lightning storm, he decides to bring Sparky back to life. It works so well that soon every kid in town wants their own dead pet reanimated.